Our first home renovation

Buying your first home can bring a lot of stress. Purchasing a foreclosure as your first home can set you down the path to insanity.

 

At least that’s what we found when we purchased our first home, a bank foreclosed property we purchased in the summer of 2007.

 

We were fresh out of school, starting brand new careers, getting married, and full of a unique mix of optimism and naiveté.

 

We didn’t own much more than a hammer. (Read the full story about our first home.)

 

Our first home renovation was what lit our passion for old homes, renovations and blogging. (We started this blog to chronicle the progress of this home.) Our first home taught us many things – how to thrive as a couple during home projects, how to save money on home renovations, and how to do projects that seemed far over our heads.

This home led us down a path to financial security (no mortgage). It led us to three rental properties, two more homes, a barn-turned-apartment, and even building our very own home.

 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Because when we purchased this home, we didn’t know any of this. We didn’t know if we’d ever want to move at all. Maybe this would be our forever home. (Snort! You can laugh at this idea now.)

 

 

It took almost a year to completely renovate our first home – see below for more before and after photos and links to further details about the projects we completed.

Exterior

The outside of the home needed a full overhaul – we removed a poorly constructed lean-to on the back of the house, added new siding and a roof, and built a deck. We added some curb appeal with inexpensive landscaping and a picket fence.

 

 

We also removed the old garage and rebuilt it – larger and nicer than ever. 

Here’s a look at the deconstruction process – my grandpa, both of our dads and Ryan took down this garage piece by piece. It turned out great!

Living Room

Our living room revamp had a bit of a surprise in store – because there were beautiful hardwood floors under that ugly carpet.

Oh, how I love the dining room.  I love the wood floors and the DIY board and batten. I love the painted table and the painted hutch. This room came together just like I imagined. I love it when that happens.

 Kitchen

This was the first time we ever designed a kitchen, and it was a bit of an exercise in compromise. In the end, the kitchen felt clean and crisp, and we were both happy with how it looked and functioned for a tiny space.

Bathroom

Oh, the bathroom was the place where horror movies begin. Lots of scary music and things hidden behind cabinets. If you wanna know what we found, you can read the entire story. But suffice to say it needed serious help.

Office

Having a first floor bedroom was the perfect space for an office, and it had so much wonderful light. It needed a basic once-over, and looked beautiful.

Master bedroom

As with many old, modest homes, the master bedroom is really just another bedroom. But I think we made this room worthy of the title. (And don’t miss our DIY upholstered headboard.)

Upstairs hallway and laundry

The hallway was dirty and dingy before.

But it was lovely after, and we even managed to eek out some space in the eaves for upstairs laundry.

Upstairs bathroom

The upstairs of this house had three bedrooms, including one of the smallest (and dirtiest) bedrooms I’ve ever seen.

But the good news is that a tiny bedroom can become a spacious bathroom – it was a wonderful addition to have a second bathroom upstairs.

Guest Bedroom

If ever a room needed some love, it was this room. Walls were punched out, doors were removed, and everything was covered in graffiti.

A lot of paint and new carpet was almost all it took (and a lot of elbow grease). We also created a larger closet in the eaves, which was a welcome addition in our old home.

 

Thanks for visiting! This home was a true labor of love. After working all day, we rushed to this home to work all night and every weekend! We are proud of how far we came.